The Explorateur: Issue #21
Monthly jams, critique, theory, and resources for rpg designers.
Thoughts too small for a blog.
Sometimes you gotta scrap a project to finish it. Hack away at it, add and subtract, give it some love—and kill it if you need to. Sometimes it's the foundation that needs to change, not the structure on top of it.
Really good ideas tend to feel obvious later. In product design, "cleverness" usually translates to elegance—perverse simplicity. The day I figure out how to arrive at those ideas, you'll know. Recently, Johan Nohr and the Mörk Borg crew combined two zines in one and I was embarrassed by how dead simple it was.
The path to great is paved in cringe. I think it's possible to get good at something without risking much. But if I want to be great? I'm going to have to make a lot of junk, look like a hack, and pretend I don't notice.
Just starting out? Avoid these fonts. If it looks like it belongs on a Live, Laugh, Love sign, it probably doesn't belong in your game. Papyrus, Copperplate Gothic, Dancing Script, Lobster, Scriptina, etc. Only use these if you're making some kind of commentary on their overused reputation.
Extra pages? It's not a big deal. Unless the pages are making you over budget, filling them is easy. Fill it with an appendix of influences, author bio, an ad for your other stuff, or a dedication page. Elongating an adventure to fit a folio count is ranked second to last. Your last option should be a "notes" page.
Shop local. Discover local. Art and artisan fairs, small conventions, graduate art exhibitions, and farmers' markets—your next illustrator or collaborator is them. If not them, one of their clients. "Who made this book cover?" Go ask.
Take your test print on a plane ride. Want to test the durability, form factor, and readability of a book? Put it in your personal bag on a plane ride to somewhere wretched like Florida. Fly coach on Frontier for even more of a test.
My favorite way to run a game in an established setting: Look for the load bearing character—the one who drives the entire story—and kill them. Better yet, find a way to make the player characters responsible. They bump into Greedo, he gets antsy, shoots first, misses, blows Luke's head clean off. Boom. New Star Wars.
Your manifesto needs manifestation. The online discourse has fallen in love with manifestos, but they're missing the body of work, the monument, the bad idea that pokes me in the eyes. One of the best manifestos of all time was a fountain.
Here's how I know there's still room to push. No one's been arrested for their rpg. Eventually one of us will make Elon Musk cry, and then we'll know we've made it. Until then, most art, even the counter culture stuff is pretty tame.
Updates to the Explorateur.
You might have noticed emojis in previous issues. I've been using them as a visual shorthand for non-blog links, like resources (📁), inspiration (💡), podcasts (🎙️), and videos (📺). Here's a new one: the heart (❤️).
Normally, I shuffle my links, but I've gotten this occasional urge to callout my favorites. If you see a heart, that means I enjoyed it more than usual.
Explorers' Loot
- Dying from the 1 HP Dragon. How do characters die in a game without hit points? The answer in this 1 HP Dragon sequel is simple: a growing death save.
- How to Pick a Page Size. Formats or "page sizes" pose all kinds of design challenges. This month's educational article was all about picking the right one.
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Quests & Rumors
Game jams, contests, and opportunities. Drop me a line on Bluesky.
- ❤️ RPG Trader. It's a refreshing new marketplace with a clean interface, revenue split, tags, and a firm anti-ai policy. I'm cautiously optimistic about it.
- 58 MM RPG Jam. Here's a new one! Make a micro rpg that fits on a 58mm diameter button. This one will take some innovation to pull off. Ends July 31st.
- Appx. N Jam 2026. Last year's mega-popular jam is back. Create a small adventure inspired by the same pulp inspirations as AD&D. Ends Aug. 1st.
- One-Page RPG Jam 2026. This Ennie award-winning game jam is about making new, one-page tabletop roleplaying games. Ends Aug. 16th.
- Flimflam Jam. If you like hardboiled crime, cigar-chomping kingpins, and ham sandwich dialogue—make something for Crime Wave before Sept. 1st.
- Vaarn Summer Jam '26. Make something for Vaults of Vaarn, a science-fantasy rpg, inspired by Dune, Hyperion, and Mobieus. Jam ends Sept. 30th.
- Chainlinked Game Jam. Create your own content for the semi-cooperative dungeon-defying rpg, Chain×Link. Or make a hack of it. Jam ends Oct. 4th.
- Make Moves Jam. Create or share singular Moves using Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) design philosophies. Jam lasts all year. Ends Dec 31st.
Reviews & Critique
Critique and examinations of tabletop rpgs, adventures, and more.
- A Review of Forgotten Realms; Underdark by False Machine D&D's potential and proclivities. "Neither will I live in, or near, their ghetto of stats."
- The Dose Makes the Poison by Pointless Monument. "This is a very slick module, with more going on (and crucially, more explained) than most..."
- Two Great Tastes: Lavender Hack + Trilemma Adventures by Indie Game Reading Club. It's a little like peanut butter, jelly, and a sack of flour.
- Tephrotic Nightmares by Whispers from Sky-Spire. It's a stunning book. Even by Mörk Borg standards—but this review has me thinking about nihilism.
- How Arden Vul Uses its Size by Lonely Star. I love the insights this review makes in how a book's structure, presentation, and size convey the world.
- Heroes of the Borderlands by Idle Cartulary. D&D's latest starter set continues to disappoint, but at the least the reviews explaining why don't.
- Last Train to Bremen by Old Men Running the World. A short chat about gm-less play, the oracular nature of dice, and the hidden leylines of bands.
- 🎙️ Cult of the Bloodfather by Between 2 Cairns. How do you make bigger dungeons? Are fake paper backgrounds okay? A lot of design talk this episode!
- 🎙️ Decagon w/ Daniel Hallinan by Ansible Uplink. Every ten minutes, the crew finds themselves back in the elevator they arrived in. A time loop module!
Design Examples & Best-iary
The spotlight section showcases interviews, design examples, and projects.
- David Harris on Adaptation by Backwards Tabletop. Six-time winner of the Public Domain game jam, David Harris, talks adaptation with Asa.
- 💡 Reinventing the Zine by Johan Nohr. This idea for a zine is so simple and elegant, I'm genuinely surprised I've never seen it before. Copy away.
- 🎙️ New: Making Games by Andre Novoa & Johan Nohr. This podcast was made in a lab for me. Two legendary designers talking about game making.
- 📺 I Write (Because I Can't Draw) by IGDN. Will Munn, Matt Best, and Maddy Mae explain how they make games when they're bad at art.
Theory & Craft
Design tools, resources, theory, and advice for rpg designers from rpg designers.
- ❤️ Choice, Change, and Chance by 3x5 Arcana. Landmark/Hidden/Secret remains monumental for adventure writing, but this? This gives it extra juice.
- Keying a Dungeon with Class-Specific Descriptions by Rise Up Comus. Design is like infrastructure. The shorthand here opens up all new possibilities.
- The Tyrant's Hand by All Dead Generations. This worldbuilding post draws on the design sensibilities of real world tyrants and the ruins they leave behind.
- How Many Words Should We Use? by Murkmail. Plenty love and embrace long prose, but if brevity's your goal—Murk's got a good estimate.
- Who Approved this Dragon?! by in lowercase. I don't always share worldbuilding posts, but this one highlights a great technique—extrapolation.
- Prepping Heists, Reimagined by Drifting Press. A lot of great insights in this article about designing heists, including a checklist and random roll table!
- The Activation Energy of a Game by Seraphina. I'm a total glutton for scientific metaphors in games. This one is all about getting a game played.
- A Tour of D&D Logos by News from the Grid. I love a retrospective, and this little tour by Jean made me chuckle when talking about the different editions.
- 🎙️ The Issues: Digital RPG Platforms by Between 2 Cairns. A free bonus episode all about DriveThruRPG, Itch, Lulu, and the all-new rpg-trader.com.
Inspiring & Non-roleplaying
Design tools, theory, and inspiration from the world beyond tabletop rpgs.
- Illustration Agency Tips on Negotiating Contracts. Most illustrators are signing away rights they don't understand. Something to learn for everyone.
- The Subtext. A repository of resources, case studies, and interviews for and by professional copywriters in advertising and design. I've wrote for it once.
- Mixing Analog & Digital Illustration by True Grit. Minnesota-based artist Kevin Bergquist shows how he blends cut & paste techniques with digital tools.
- Caves of Qud’s Jason Grinblat on Writing a Game Like a Wolfe Novel by Phrasemaker. There's a wide range of literary influences under Qud's hood.
- 📁 Strategy Guides. Kudos to Kati and DAI on Discord for sharing these old video game strategy guides, magazines, and ephemera here, here, and here.
- 💡 Design Manifestos. The best way to kick an addiction (rpg manifestos) is with a new addiction (design manifestos). Featuring designers of all stripes.
- 📺 He Won't Stop Building a Map to an Imaginary Place by People Make Games. A map? A deck of cards? An all-consuming void? Yes please.
Design Archive
Old, missed, famous, and overlooked articles for the newsletter.
- FKR - Non-Exhaustive Analysis by Weird Writer. If you've ever been curious about the Free Kriegsspiel Revival/Renaissance—learn about it here.
- Dungeons & Dragons is a Comedy Game by Dice Exploder. Is D&D a design failure or simply the most elaborate setup and punch line ever? Yes.
Missed the last issue? Read it here.
Clayton Notestine
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